George w



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. E. MATZELIGER,.Decd.

V G. W. MOULTON, Administrator. TACK SEPARAIING AND DISTRIBUTINGMECHANISM.

No. 423,937. Patented Mar. 25, 1890.

"Mll- IllllI I I I "WI TNESS E Su I INVENTO .Y;Wu\

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

J. E. MATZELIGER, Deod.

G. W. Moumon, Administrator. I 'TAOK SEPARATING AND DISTRIBUTINGMECHANISM.

No. 423,937. Patented Mar. 25, 1890.

N. PETERS. Phulol-ilhograpl ln Wnhingtm u.-c.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAN EARNST MATZELIGER, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS; GEORGE MOULTONADMINISTRATOR OF SAID MATZELIGER, DECEASED.

TACK SEPARATING AND DISTRIBUTING MECHANISM.

SPEGIFIOATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 423,937, dated March25, 1890.

Application filed October 31,1888. Serial No- 289,68'7. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AN EARNST MATZELL GER, of Lynn, county of Essex,and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements inTack Separating and Distributing Mechanism, of which the following,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism whereby tacks are received in bulkand separated and distributed one at a time at intervals.

In an application for Letters Patent of the United States filed in thePatent Office August 14, 1885, Serial No. 174,378, the mechanismconstituting this invention is represented as a component part of alasting-machine. In this application the invention described relatesspecifically to mechanism whereby tacks are taken from a raceway anddischarged one at a time at positive intervals to a suitable receivingdevice; but as an aid in more fully understanding this inventionreference is had to the Letters Patent above referred to.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mechanism embodyingthis invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the lower section of thetack-chute. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a central section of Fig. 2. Fig.at is aview of the tack-separator detached.

The tacks are placed into the hopper A in bulk, and are shiftedtherefrom to the racewaychannel a of the chute B. The mechanism wherebythis is effected and the manipulation thereof is fully described in saidapplication, Serial No. 174,378. It is noted here that the tacks, havingentered the raceway, are suspended, their heads bearing on the chute,their bodies projected downwardly in the raceway. The chute is inclinedand smoothly polished, to the end that the tacks shall gravitatedownward without assistance other than the natural jar of the workingparts.

The separator is located at the lower end of the chute at oneside of aguide or guard X. (See Figs. 2 and 3.) Said separator is represented inFig. 4. It consists of a shaft having a spirally-formed thread emergedtherefrom and extended to the end thereof. The tackraceway terminates atthe upper end of the separator-screw, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The separator has its shank journaled in a bushing E, which bushing isscrew-threaded and screwed into a socket formed in the walls of thechute. The thread of the separator commences at the point h (see Figs. 3and 4) and lifts gradually from the shaft of the separator to attain itsfull size greater in diameter than the shaft about three turns from thestarting-point. It is at the point 71 where the screw engages the tackto separate it from the row of tacks in the raceway above, and thescrew-thread is made to gradually contract in diameter at this point, inorder that it may work up to and engage close under the head of thetack, for a tack thus engaged may be carried forward by the screwwithout cramping. Over the raceway a at the engagingpoint is apresser-foot e, which prevents the tack from being lifted by theseparator during the operation of getting hold of it; but the presseryields upwardly to prevent the tack from being unduly cramped orcrowded. The position of the separator in the raceway and the channel ofits screw is such that tacks coming down the raceway pass under thefoot, and when opportunity offers the foremost tack of the line setsforward into the channel of the separator. Each complete revolution ofthe separator brings its channel into posi tion for receiving a tack. Asthe separator next begins to revolve the said foremost tack is engagedby the separator-thread, which, coming in behind the tack, separates itfrom the line and carries it forward, guided between the separator andthe guide X. By the same thread all approach for the other tacks is cutoff until the separator completes its revolution and again presents theopen channel to receive the next foremost tack. To facilitate the takingof the tack, a slight lateral curve is made in the chute-raceway at thetakingpoint, as shown in the drawings, and a cap w may extend over theseparator to prevent the tacks from lifting at n.

The separator is made to revolve by any suitable mechanism; but thedevices I have employed for this purpose are represented in thedrawings, and comprise adriving-shaft and the intermediate rods andgears 6 7 8 9, arranged and connected with the separatorshaft, asrepresented. B y each complete revolution of the separator a tack isremoved from the raceway into one end of the separator-channel and atack is also discharged from the separator at the opposite end of itschannel.

A suitable device (many kinds of which are plainly suggested) may beprovided for receiving the tack as it falls from the separator, or itmay be allowed to fall at random.

In the drawings I have represented a receiver at the end of the chutewhich is provided with a cavity for receiving the discharged tack, andfrom which it is ejected by a suitable driver mechanism into an objectsupported beneath the receiver; but such matters and other details ofconstruction represented herein are separately claimed in otherapplications for Letters Patent of the United States therefor, seriallynumbered 287,903 and 287,988, and to which reference is had for adescription thereof.

I claim 1. In a nailing-machine, the combination, with an inclinedchute, of a spiral separator secured to the lower end thereof, saidchute being provided with a slot the lower end of which is curvedlaterally at the junction of the chute with the separator, substantiallyas described.

2. In a nailing-machine, the combination, with the slotted tack-chute,of a spiral separator and a screw-threaded bushing for supporting theseparator, and whereby it may be adjusted longitudinally to or from thelower end of the slot or raceway a of the chute, substantially asdescribed.

JAN EARNST MATZELIGER.

'Witnesses:

G. H. DELNOW, G. B. TUTTLE.

